Most Trafficked Mammal at Risk of Extinction, Record Haul Shows

  • Singapore confiscated 26 tons of pangolin scales in one week
  • China, Vietnam are biggest consumers of pangolin and its parts

A sunda pangolin.

Photographer: Roslan Rahman/AFP via Getty Images 

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Singapore seized its biggest-ever haul of pangolin scales in a sign that the endangered animal is being hunted to the brink of extinction.

About 26 tons of scales worth $77 million were seized, more than what is generally caught globally every year and the potential result of the killings of more than 40,000 of the endangered animals.